Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. DVDReview

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Move over Samuel L. Jackson, The Hoff's cheesy take on Marvel's tough-guy hero is out on DVD

By Cindy White

If you stuck around after the credits of this summer's Iron Man long enough to catch the surprise cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, you've already seen a take on the character that is superior in just about every way to the first live-action interpretation, by none other than David Hasselhoff. In this 1998 made-for-TV cheese-fest, The Hoff stars as the comic-book super spy, alongside soap star Lisa Rinna as Contessa Valentina 'Val' de Allegro Fontaine and a cast of relative unknowns. Now, in an effort to capitalize on Jackson's notable appearance and the current popularity of comic-book properties on the big screen, the first Nick Fury film is finally getting a DVD release via an exclusive deal with Best Buy.

But before you run out to your local Best Buy with credit card in hand, there are a few things you should know. Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not a good film. In fact, it is so bad you have to wonder if it wasn't made intentionally so. At times it seems as if the filmmakers knew they didn't have the talent, schedule or budget to make a quality film, so they took the so-bad-it's-good approach. Except they never quite got as far as the "good" part. The acting is cringe worthy, the dialogue is laughable (except when it's trying to be humorous), the action scenes are awkwardly choreographed, the plot is unoriginal and little attempt has been made to be faithful to the original comic-book mythology beyond the use of the characters' names.

For what it's worth, the story centers on a plot hatched by Andrea von Strucker (aka Viper), the daughter of Nick Fury's defeated nemesis, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, described in the film as "last of the great global boogey men." As the new head of the terrorist organization known as HYDRA, she threatens to launch a deadly biological attack on Manhattan in the form of the Death's Head Virus, unless she is paid in the sum of $1 billion. (Bear in mind that this was made in a pre-9/11 world, when the spread of terror was imagined as a means to an end, not the end itself).

The threat is big enough to bring Nick Fury back into the field after five years of forced retirement. He's understandably reluctant to return to S.H.I.E.L.D. -- which, in this case, stands for the inelegantly named "Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Enforcement Division" (technically making it S.H.I.E.L.E.D., but whatever) -- until his old flame Val shows up and convinces him of the impending danger posed by von Strucker's evil spawn. He assembles a task force -- including Val, psychic Kate Neville (Tracy Waterhouse) and the eager but untested Agent Pierce (Neil Roberts) -- to disarm the missiles containing the virus and to take down Viper before she can escape to do more damage.

Don't let the cover of the DVD fool you. Though this is touted as coming "from one of the writers of Batman Begins" there's no trace of the realism or tragic darkness of that film. The writer in question is David Goyer, who's been involved in his share of high-profile genre projects (namely the Blade trilogy). As one of his earlier and less successful efforts, he'd probably be content for this title to remain in obscurity. That is, unless he's particularly proud of writing exposition-heavy scenes and lines like, "Relax kid, I'm just blowing smoke up your hoo-ha."

Even if the dialogue was stellar, the real problem would be with Hasselhoff's forced and overly dramatic performance. He's hopelessly miscast as the hard-as-nails, playing-by-his-own-rules Fury. No matter how much he poses or chomps on cigars with flourish, there's nothing tough or intimidating about him. As a fighter, he's slow and stiff in his movements. So much so that it's distractingly obvious whenever the choreography has been adjusted to compensate for his lack of agility and when a stunt double has been brought in to do it for him. There's never any danger of the audience taking the character too seriously.

But Hasselhoff is not alone in this regard. There's plenty of atrocious acting in this film that he's not responsible for, amplified by a mesh of excruciating attempts at various accents, both foreign and American. The worst offender is Sandra Hess as Viper, who takes the character too far into the realm of camp that she actually surpasses Hasselhoff in terms of overacting. In the end, the story's resolution allows for her return in future adventures. Needless to say, and thankfully, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

The character of Nick Fury has a rich history and a deep back story that may someday make for a good film. But this low-budget, low-quality affair is definitely not it.